Bittersweet
by Piers Nivans
Summary: An enigmatic new girl who starts working the bar is the object of Gob's affection.  Is there more to her that meets the eye? Will he confess his love?
1. Silently Longing

"Welcome to Moriarty's, smoothskin; can I get you a drink? Anything?" asked a gravelly voice.

A pair of hazel eyes averted to the source of the voice as she approached. He was a ghoul: he had sallow and jagged skin, and pieces were missing. What little hair left on top of his crown looked like a matted halo. He was in a slightly hunched-over position which signified a low self-esteem and overall detachment from people. In other words, he wasn't a sight for sore eyes. She had heard about his kind—word of mouth. She never had the opportunity to encounter one. Despite his words, his eyes quickly moved from her face and stared down timidly, awaiting a verbal or physical attack from her. To his surprise, she hadn't done any of the sort; she simply rubbed the back of her head and closed an eye.

"Uhh…." her voice drawn out the vowel. This, of course made him feel nervous, especially with Moriarty in the vicinity.

"I'm sorry, that was probably rude of me. I…just can't decide. What do you suggest?"

"…You're not going to hit me or berate me?" he asked incredulously. She could see him tensing up.

"…Wha—no!" she replied, equally incredulous. Her eyes widened.

"Th-that's a surprise…most of the asshole smoothskins are always giving me shit around here. But it's a relief to see a friendly face," he cracked a crooked attempt of a smile. "But anyway, if I had to suggest something…I'd suggest, uh…the… whiskey—I'll even risk a discount for you, even though Moriarty'd probably kill me for it…" he whispered the last bit.

"I'll take the whiskey then, my good sir," she took a seat across from where he was standing behind the counter.

He twitched. It was obvious that he wasn't accustomed to someone treating him like a regular human being, much less care about his opinion. Warmth settled in his chest. Even if she wasn't there for long, he'd savor the kindness forever. Even amidst those fleeting thoughts, he hurriedly got her order of whiskey and set it atop a coaster right in front of her. The young woman paid him the bottle caps required. "Thanks, sir,"

"Anytime, friend," he said as warmly as his marred vocals could muster.

She took a sip from the alcoholic contents—instantly, the burning sensation flooded into her chest like a bothersome leak.

Although he wasn't supposed to, his pale, glazed-over eyes crept up to perceive her features. There was no doubt in his mind that she transcended the threshold of mediocrity. No, she was beautiful. She had a small, button-like nose, long, doll-like lashes and well-coiffed silvery-blonde hair. He didn't even want to get started on her physique. To be simply put, she was perfect. It made him a little sad, that someone like her would never look twice at someone like him; no matter how "nice" she was. That was the reality of it. Gob was tugged away from conflicting train of thoughts by a loud set of coughs, which caused his shoulders to jump. "You alright, smoothskin?" he asked, making the mistake of looking her in the eye. Before she could answer, a thick accent resounded about the bar.

"Motherfucking GOB! The fuck you think yer doing?"

"M-Mr. Moriarty, I…"

"You talk so goddamn much! Yer gonna' scare away my fucking customers and I'll just have to fuck ya' up again—"

"He wasn't scaring anybody away. He was being a great patron actually," the young woman interjected.

"Hehe…ya' don't have to take up for that fucking zombie, princess, if he's troubling ya', ya' let me know," he smiled at her and then glared warningly at Gob. This caused him to flinch, because he knew this meant trouble later.

"I actually came here for another reason," she responded.

"What can I do for ya'?" Moriarty asked.

"I came here for employment. I mean, if you don't have a slot or something then…"

Gob could feel his chest swell with hopefulness. With her being there, it would make waking up every day well worth it. Nova was great company, too, but…

Moriarty sifted his fingers through his gray beard in thought. "I suppose I could use a pretty little lass like you to spike more business in this place,"

He could see her eyes light up.

"What's yer name, love?"

"Holly,"

"Alrigh', Holly, we'll set ya' up with a room and you can get started first thing tomorrow. Gob'll give ya' the rundown," he said. The youth could see the excitement in his eyes. She would definitely be a new business asset. Perhaps…another _arrangement_ could be proposed soon enough.

"Thank you, Mor…"

"Moriarty, love," he corrected.

"Yeah," she took another sip of her whiskey.

_Holly…what a beautiful name… _he thought to himself. It wasn't like him to be so stuck on a human like that. At least he'd have something beautiful to gaze at from afar, and that was plenty.

Business was a bit slow that day. Holly hung about, watching the few customers come and go. A woman with short brown hair approached her. "Heard you were the new recruit, Nice to see another vagina around here. This place is usually a sausage fest. I'm Nova," She placed her hand on her hip.

"Nice to meet you, Nova, I'm Holly,"

"You'll notice some days that Moriarty is a little…how do I put it in words..? Dicky? But don't take it too personal, he's like that with everybody. Well, he's especially hard on Gob. He starts out sweet, but wait till it wears off and he gets comfortable," she casted cursory glances at Moriarty to see if he was looking at her or listening in, then averted her attention back to Holly.

"That's great to know," she answered lackadaisically.

"Damn radio ain't workin' again…" Gob grumbled and banged on it with the side of his fist.

"Here we go again…" Nova sighed. "Gob, give it up—it isn't the radio, it's the signal. Banging on it isn't going to help it." She shook her head.

A male customer walked in and Nova quickly moved to get his attention. After a few words, she went off with him. Holly ascertained that Nova was, in fact a prostitute. It got her to wonder what compelled her to take up such profession.

Finally, the whiskey was no more than a mere memory in that tiny cup. Since Moriarty had stepped out as business was lacking this evening, she paced about the bar to become more acquainted as Gob busied himself wiping the counters with a dirtied rag.

"So…where'd you come from?" Holly asked, turning her head to glance over at Gob.

"The Underworld—underneath the city of D.C. City of ghouls just like me. Came outside to make something of myself and I ended up in this shithole..."

"That old man seems like a needless dick,"

"Big time. I try not to cause too much trouble, or he'll kick my ass," he said in a calm voice.

"Ugh. You shouldn't be accustomed to that kind of treatment,"

"I'm working to pay off my debt—but it doesn't help that I am charged room and board, too. But yeah, I'm used to it. I guess he gives me all of this shit 'cause I look like a corpse. 'S not like I asked to be a ghoul…" he sighed.

She could hear the sadness in his voice. One did not need to be rocket scientist to know he had been verbally and physically abused by his employer. Her lips formed a frown.

He wasn't looking at her, this time. God forbid Moriarty caught him staring at her. At least she was here, now. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him—for the first time in fifteen years.

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have gotten into your personal business…" Holly looked down. "Gob…"

"It's alright, friend. You didn't do anything wrong,"

"Please, call me Holly,"

"Alright…Holly," he stopped himself from saying her name with too much gusto.

"So, what do you do on your free time?" she asked.

"I don't really have much free time…I'm always holed-up in this dive,"

"We need to change that,"

"Sorry, smoothskin, I don't really have a choice, and even if I did, I couldn't afford to do that,"

"Moron-arty's got you on a tight leash. I have a feeling that he and I are going to bump heads…"

Such a nickname she had given his evil bastard of an employer. If anything, a curt chuckle escaped him. He wished he had the zeal she did. Then again, she was in a better position than he was. Not to be mistaken, he wasn't looking for a Knight in Shining Armor, but it would be nice to see someone sticking it to Moriarty every once in a while. Even if it resulted in his annoyance being taken out on him (as his anger usually was) in the long run, it would be worth it.

The night wore on. Moriarty decided to close the bar earlier and put Gob to clean the spilled booze.

"Y-yes Mr. Moriarty," he moved with haste.

"And hurry the fuck up! I'll be back to check. Anything out of line and yer gonna' to wish you were never born!" he stomped off into the back.

Holly's lip curled with disgust. She stood up and reached over the counter.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Gob asked.

"I'll help you clean,"

"If Mr. Moriarty sees you doing the work, he'd skin me alive, and I barely have any to begin wi—"

"We're doing it together,"

"You drive a hard bargain, smoothskin."

"Holly," she corrected.

He turned his back to her wipe one of the tables with his rag. He smiled to himself. "Yeh, Holly…"

She mopped up the alcohol that spread the floor. Some of the people went out of their way to be assholes and spill excess onto the floors and tables to give poor ol' Gob more work. Something had to change while she was here. His physical appearance, admittedly might take a bit to grow accustom to, but his personality? It was superb.

When Moriarty returned and performed an inspection and deemed the scutwork to be passable enough, Gob went toward his sleeping quarters.

"Sleep well, as tomorrow is yer first day, sleeping beauty," said Moriarty with a smile. "Yer gonna' need it.

"Yeah, thanks…"

As she passed him by, she could feel a light slap settling across her backside. Her brows furrowed. She'd let this one slide. After all, what use was it getting fired before her first day?

Holly went to one of the washrooms and began removing her clothes. The moment the last piece had been peeled away from her, the door knob was being tampered with, to which she quickly turned and before she could speak, the door had opened. It was a shirtless Gob. Much like she had gotten an eyeful, he had gotten tenfold. Pale optics widened and he froze like a Brahmin in front of a flamethrower.

"I'm sorry! Don't hit me!" he exclaimed.

"A-ah…! It's okay. I should've locked the…" the door quickly shut. "…door."

Her cheeks heated up. Something like that was hard to let go.

Eventually, she changed into her sleeping clothes and found her place in one of the bedrooms (which would come out of her funds).

Gob was hesitant to go back to the bathroom after what happened, but when it seemed safe enough, he prepared a bath and relaxed in the lukewarm water for a small while. He could still smell her scent lingering the tiny lavatory—it had to be some sort of fruit he'd never seen or heard of before. But, he liked it all the same. The image burned so clear in his head—her round, supple breasts, pink perky nipples and her thighs were full. They looked soft. She looked soft. Not that he knew what a human woman actually felt like, given how repulsed by him they were. The way her blonde hair cascaded over her upper body made her like rainfall only added fuel to his resolve. Damn, his photographic memory. An amatory tingle worked up his midsection and coursed down to his lower quarters. His eyes averted to his other half, which came as a surprise—there it was, erect, underneath the water. The region where his brows used to be furrowed. He almost felt…ashamed to think about her in such a way. It was hard to block out the thoughts; the thoughts containing him relentlessly ravaging her body. Just as he was about to become a slave to his self-induced lust, a violent banging on the door ensued.

"Get out of the fuckin' bathroom, ya' rotting fuck!" Moriarty shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Moriarty,"

It was a nice thought. He gotten from his brief bath and got dressed for bed. Upon leaving, he received one slap aside the back of his head. "Who ya getting pretty fer?" Moriarty asked.

"I wasn't—"

"Then don't be takin' long baths 'round here. Besides, nobody wants to mate with a rotting piece of shit."

Usually, this wouldn't bother Gob as much, but this time around, it did; especially since he already knew his chances with Holly were hopeless.

When he passed by her room, he paused for a moment. Silently, he ruminated how she might have looked sleeping soundly, snuggling between a blanket, without a care in the world. He envied her free spirit. To avoid another "run-in" with Moriarty, he went to his room and closed the door. Once he got into bed, he lied on his back, placing his hands behind his head, glancing at the ceiling. The very thought that he'd see her pretty face in the morning brought a smile to his face. He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off into a deep sleep. He couldn't wait.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know it's a bit slow. Should pick up soon, however!  
><strong>


	2. Crooked Smile

The early morning touched down over Megaton. Her eyes opened. She sat upright and stretched. A faint yawn escaped her lips. Holly sat there until her feet were able to plant themselves onto the floor. It was obvious that the grogginess had yet to evaporate from her body. Shuffling steps led her to the washroom and she got ready for her first day of work.

As soon as she stepped out, she was greeted by Gob.

"G'Mornin', Holly," he straightened up.

"Good Morning, Gob,"

"Did you, eh…sleep well?"

"Sure did. Just wish it didn't end so soon."

Select areas of her face were as red as a tomato. It was endearing—the aspect that blood was able to rush to her face. Nevertheless, it was cute. He remembered at one point, when he had a normal face, and a full head of hair, he was quite the looker. Shy, but quite the looker nonetheless. But, that was so long ago, he had forgotten how it felt to have pearly white skin.

"How'd you sleep, Gob?"

"O-oh…good,"

"That's great to hear,"

"Listen…about last night…I'm—"

"It's alright, Gob. It wasn't your fault! I should have locked the door. I was so careless,"

"The fuck are ya' chatting fer? Set up the fucking shop!" Moriarty interrupted.

"A-ah, yes, Mr. Moriarty,"

Holly averted her attention to the miserable older man. She had to be careful around this one. He had a nasty attitude, especially toward Gob. And about what Nova warned her about? She was waiting for the time to come where she would become just another worker and receive the same treatment as Nova or even Gob.

"I'll help help him," she responded and turned to set up the chairs.

"I'd prefer if ya would sit back and watch how things are done around here, he's a lazy fuck. Let him do it,"

"No. I'm a hands-on kind of learner. I've got this," she spoke defiantly.

His thick eyebrow rose. It was apparent that he was holding back some words that he would save for when he becomes accustomed to her employment at his bar. "Gob. At the register. We've got customers. Hurry it up!"

"Yes, Mr. Moriarty,"

He stopped what he was doing and proceeded to rush behind the counter. Moriarty was being quite the asshole so early in the morning. He began taking the order of the first customer. It was the usual people.

"I want the Brahmin steak. Well done—not rubbery like last time, you got that, shuffler?" demanded the male customer.

"Uh-huh," Gob responded. There was a hint of irritation in his voice.

Holly continued to set up the chairs and the wipe the counters.

"Well, well well…" the male glanced over at Holly with predatory intent. "Who the fuck is that nice piece of ass?" he gestured toward her with his thumb.

"That's Holly, the new barmaid, quite the jewel, eh?"

"Man, check out her rack. How much is it to get a room with that?"

Hearing him and Moriarty talk about Holly like she was a piece of meat irritated him to no end. He could feel the irritation…and even jealousy coursed through his veins. His right hand formed a fist at his side.

"She ain't fer sale…_yet_," Moriarty smirked.

"That's too bad; let me know when the market opens. Guess I'll fuck the other slut until then, hehe."

_No…not Holly_. He thought to himself. He wouldn't be able to bear the idea of anyone else taking her. Sure, these were unrealistic expectations and part of him felt guilty for not warning her to leave as quickly as she could. Colin Moriarty was a money-hungry weasel, and would do any sort of lucrative methods (to HIM) to make more income and pay his employees less than the required amount of profit.

"Welcome to Moriarty's, how can I help you, today?" Holly greeted the customer with a disarming smile.

"You sure can, sweet cheeks," said a man flirtatiously, shifting to take a seat.

She pulled out a tiny notepad and a pencil and began taking his order. While at work, she could feel various people eyeballing her. It made her feel a tad uncomfortable; however, she took it in stride. Each time an order was given, she'd go to Gob to relay the message and he procured the required items. This joint effort made both of their workloads easier. Even Moriarty saw somewhat an improvement that day. She was definitely a quick learner and competent. A (feigned) bubbly personality livened up the place.

The radio started working again at the very least, and Gob was able to listen to DJ Three Dog again. He enjoyed the fact that she kept coming back to him each time to tell him what the customers wanted. That solid, although professional interaction between them was more than enough to sate his desire to be around her. He watched her—beautiful as ever, gracefully going down the aisles and baring her perfectly white teeth past her full lips. Her curled hair lively bounced on top of her shoulders.

_Damn, she's perfect…_

The day wore on and so did the customers. A majority of them flirted mindlessly with Holly, to which she politely responded back so as not to seem rude. Little did she know the jealousy that seeped from poor ol' Gob.

Moriarty watched the rounds of drinks increased and more bottle caps filled the cash register. Being miserable as he was, nothing ever completely satisfied him. He was irate. Irate that things were too lax on Gob's behalf. "Gob, stop being so fucking lazy and take some orders as well. I didn't hire a new person so that you can relax!"

"But, I—"

Moriarty turned as red as a beet. "Are you sassing me, you rotten scumbag?" he snarled.

"No, Mr. Moriarty…"

"I'm going to fuck you up!"

_This had to stop_, Holly thought to herself. The way he singled out Gob like that was a little excessive now. She had never heard him tell him that he did a great job or thank him for the help he has done around the place—it was always something off. He could be doing what he was supposed to be doing and Colin Moriarty would find something off about it just to have a reason to complain. It didn't look like the townspeople liked him much, either. But they still kept coming there and giving him money, so it mattered very little to him, their opinion.

"Moriarty, I'd like to talk to you about something." A female's voice emanated. It was Nova.

"What do you want? Don't tell me it's about that _thing_ again…" followed a swift Nova to the back.

"Looks like the place is emptying out. Have a drink-it's on me, pal," Holly said, to Gob.

"Oh, no, Moriarty'd have a fit if he saw me drinking his products on my shift,"

"What _doesn't_ he catch a bitch fit about around here? Clearly, he's an ungrateful piece of trash,"

"Shh, don't let him hear you say that," Gob said, sharply. The last thing he needed was trouble. Regardless, he agreed with her.

"I'm sorry. I just…I can't stand how he keeps singling you out like that. It isn't cool!"

"Heh…You've got a lot of spunk, girlie."

He was grateful for her passion. It made him feel…wanted.

"And you're a pretty cool guy, Gob. You know that?" she leaned forward against the counter.

He managed to catch a whiff of that same beautiful scent—from last night. This time it was stronger, more…fragrant. A soft, quiet sigh escaped his lips. He froze up with how close she was. If his skin was smooth, she would have been able to see him blushing. And what was this..? Was she complimenting him? He had never received a compliment from anyone…other than Carol. His chest was pounding.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I know so,"

He smiled his crooked smile.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Get ready for things to pick up next chapter! I promise. **


	3. I'll Protect You

"_When somebody loves you, it's no good unless she loves you. All the way."_

A few months had passed since she worked at Moriarty's Saloon and she had gotten used to the dynamics of the place. Holly passed to and fro, serving drinks and food to awaiting customers (of course some of them—as usual made passes at her). Several love songs had played on the radio. The ghoul softly sang along to them to the best of his ability. He sung them with one thought in mind: Holly. Thinking about her alleviated the pain. He hid it well. No matter how many times Moriarty struck him for little to no reason, he'd be able to see Holly again, so it was well worth it. Come to think of it, he also heard her melodiously singing along with each of the songs, albeit unintentionally in unison with Gob. She had the sweetest little pitch.

"_Through the good ol' leap years and for all those in-between years…come what may." _

Colin Moriarty was busy conversing with one of the customers who inquired about his products; a man in a blue vault suit. It read "101" on his back.

"A vault-dweller…" she uttered to herself. A momentary train of thought had come interrupted by the feeling of being watched. Holly's eyes averted back to Gob. Their eyes met. She grinned. He felt his blood rush, having not expected her to have caught him staring. Now that her hands were empty, she approached him and leaned forward on the counter top like she usually would.

"What's up, Gobbers?"

"Ah…eh…you look…beautiful today," he uttered nervously. He couldn't believe he just said that. It took a considerable amount of courage (or stupidity) to say such a thing. Sheer mortification began to slowly set in, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole. To his surprise, her grin widened.

"Thank you! You're so sweet,"

It felt like a weight had suddenly been lifted from his chest. Relief was washed over him like a gentle current. Gob could not help but crack a smile of his own—bashful, but a smile nonetheless. Unfortunately for him, Moriarty caught wind of the situation. His beady eyes narrowed. How many months he had made passes at Holly, even the offering of sleeping with her went rejected, and she was smiling it up with Gob? Gob of all people? The more those thoughts lingered, the more Colin felt infuriated. He had a big surprise for her AND Gob. This was HIS place and he owned all of THEM. He would exercise his dominance and teach them a lesson.

Nova came in and out of the rooms with various men, going about her business, working her way to paying her boss back through the form of prostitution. Even she felt the especially negative vibes emanating from him. Ultimately, she steered clear of him when he became unpleasant, in fear of receiving his wrath, but she knew Gob would receive the brunt of it. She wished she could help him, but she couldn't afford to go down with him. "Back here, honey, I'll show you a great time." she cooed toward her client. Her hips sexily swayed just as she went into a room. The male closed the door behind him. The act of sin would commence.

Holly and Gob were busy picking up whiskey, Nuka-Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles off of the floors. In unanimity the duo crouched to reach for a Nuka-Cola bottle and her hand mistakenly applied atop his. His hand did not feel as rough as she imagined it to be—the texture was definitely out of the ordinary, but it wasn't scaly or overly hard. He was warm, too. For a couple of moments, they stared at one another without a word.

"I'm sorry," she pulled her hand away, smiling. It was a tad awkward, to say the least.

"Don't worry about it, Holly,"

"Ah…there's a couple of things left to do,"

"I'll do them."

"Nah, you go on ahead. You got up earlier than I did, take a load off."

The saloon was finally swept, mopped and wiped down and closing for the night. Holly applied the finishing touches while Gob had went off to bathe. While she put the chairs upside down atop the table, she began to hear what sounded like grunts of pain; Gob's grunts of pain and yelling from Moriarty's end. Things were crashed about against the thinned walls. This happened almost every night, but this time, it seemed as if things were getting a little too out of hand. It solely depended on his moods (you were better off if he was simply in a "bad" mood). One time, Gob had suffered a sprained arm (compliments of Moriarty) and was still forced to work. Colin was being severely violent this time around. A loud _thud_ resonated from upstairs. It was too much for her to handle. Someone as kindhearted as Gob didn't deserve to be at the receiving end of Moriarty's misery. No longer would she sit back and let this happen to him. Holly nearly tripped over her feet running up the metal staircase.

Upon entering the room, she saw Gob on the floor, writhing in pain and Moriarty's foot relentlessly stomping on his sides. Just when Holly thought the old man couldn't get any redder, his face was completely flushed like a sunburnt pig. She had never seen him this angry. "You think yer so fucking special, eh? Nobody wants you, you ugly son of a bitch! Keep yer fucking eyes to yerself! You will never amount to anything, you rotting sack of SHIT!" he spat.

The ghoul attempted to shield his head from receiving anymore blows to it. The words weren't helping much, either. The only thing he could think about was seeing Holly tomorrow…the only consolation about this—if he even made it to then. Blood was seeping through his olive green t-shirt. He could barely mouth words before receiving a violent strike to his diaphragm. The generous air had been knocked out of his lungs and several coughs and desperate gasps for air ensued. No, Moriarty did not stop there—he hadn't had his fill just yet. The gray-haired man moved over to grab a broomstick, and just as he was about to assault Gob with a barrage of vigorous blows from the solid end of the stick, he could feel someone jumping onto his back and grabbing onto his forearms.

"Get the fuck offa' me!" Colin snarled.

"You leave him ALONE!"

Gob's eyes barely opened. Was Holly defending him? He shakily caught a glimpse over at the young woman hanging off of Moriarty's back. The older man's brows furrowed when she did not let up. He spun around in the attempts to throw her off of him—to no avail. Her grip only tightened. A growl of annoyance emanated from Moriarty. She could feel him change direction, quickly slamming her into the wall with little to no consideration of the damage that it might cause her. The moment her spine vigorously crashed against the wall, an agonizing yell escaped her lips. A painful jolt encapsulated her body which ultimately coerced her into recoiling and eventually lose her grip. Holly collapsed to the floor in one heap, trying to recover.

"Stupid slut! I should've done this sooner…" he turned around and much like he did to Gob, thrust his boot forward into her stomach so firmly that he could hear a wheeze escape the blonde. A coughing fit occurred. Large hands extended and grasped a handful of silky hair, and proceeded to move away from the scene, dragging her body across the floor. Her legs violently kicked out to try and stunt the movement; to keep from proceeding to wherever he planned on taking her, which only induced the pain of her hair being grabbed. It was if he had every intention of ripping silvery strands from her scalp should she choose not to comply. Holly reached toward her head.

"AHHHH!" she screamed. If only there was some way for her to get to her room.

Seeing this, a searing anger manifested. With all the adrenaline his body offered, he staggered upright and swiftly sprinted toward the struggling Holly and Moriarty. He…couldn't let him hurt her; not for his sake.

"Let her GO you fucking scumbag!" Gob exclaimed. He was through holding his tongue with Moriarty. However, he was much too quick for him. The man threw a heavy fist toward his visage—its destructive impact was enough to knock the ghoul off balance. He stumbled back and landed atop the supply rack, which came crashing down with his weight, spilling the supplies about. His bloodshot eyes were bulging with fury. "You crossed the fucking line, you little shit! I'm gonna beat you beyond recognition!" He instantly let go of Holly's hair, and his attention had once more been garnered by Gob. Holly's eyes averted toward her bedroom.

Moriarty rush over and grab the weakened ghoul by the collar of his shirt, and began his perpetual pummeling. Just as his fist moved toward his face yet again, a loud _bang_ filled the room. He glanced over his shoulder. Holly held a bolt-action rifle. A white, cloudy wisp of smoke danced away from the barrel chamber. A stinging pain settled in and he glanced at his midsection. Blood. How…?

"You fucking shot me…you BITCH!"

In one heap, Gob fell from his grasp and he turned toward the girl. Holly would not even give him the chance to do anything else. Steady index slung back the bolt and a bullet spat out of the barrel. "I hope you burn in Hell with that cor—guh!" At its vast speed and her precision, his fate was already decided; it plowed through his chest. He'd been caught midsentence. Thick ebony blood splattered across the ribbed wall behind him. Like a sack of potatoes, Moriarty dropped to the floor. There was smoke rising from the bullet wound that ended it all. He had a permanently look of shock 'cross his rat-like face. Gob's eyes widened and he began to crawl back in fear. "D-don't sh…shoot...!" he yelped.

"N…no…Gob…I am not going to hurt you—"

"Please don't shoot…! I'll give you anything you want!" he cowered.

It pained her to see him like this. The last thing she wanted to do was scare or hurt him. A rattling sound occurred when the rifle dropped from her hands without hesitation and slowly began approaching him.

"Gob…please!" she begged.

"Oh god…"

Tears welled up in her eyes. It was hard to admit, but she genuinely cared about Gob and wanted to get him away from this lifestyle, even at a substantial cost—he'd been set free. No longer would he have to suffer by the hands of Colin Moriarty: he was gone. Now that he was scared of her, this complicated things. He grasped his chest and staggered away from her. He didn't want to die. Quickly, she moved over to him and her arms extended. He flinched. They wrapped around his masculine frame. What was this…? Affection..? He hadn't felt that in such a long time. She could feel him quivering in her arms. Her palm reached toward the back of his head, setting his face into her shoulder. Could he trust this…? He could feel a warm, moist sensation trickling down the side of his neck. Was she crying?

"You're bleeding, I'll fix you up…we have a few stimpacks downstairs…"

"You're not going to kill me..?" his voice cracked.

"I would never hurt you, Gob. _Never_," she reassured.

Finally, the ache set into her body, but it paled in comparison to Gob's condition. Placing his arm over her shoulder, she steadily ushered him toward her (designated) room and set him onto her bed just before procuring various objects to provide medical service to the ghoul. As she removed his top, Holly inspected that the injury was a bit more serious than she suspected. There was a small gash across his chest. Her eyes grew smaller and cloudier with tears. She embraced him tighter. The fact that he was able to bleed and feel pain which Moriarty had no regard for made her weep. His face went a little serious, watching her lament over him. Though detrimental, he was a little glad that she showed so much compassion toward him. It made him feel better. It gave him a sense of belonging and that was more than anything he could ever ask for.

"Don't cry over me, Holly," he said, weakly.

"Shut up…"

She began to sterilize the injury with whiskey. He sucked in a generous amount of air to endure that nasty, stinging sensation that plagued his being. It was a painful affair, but at least there wouldn't be any infection present later on. Afterwards, he was injected with the aforementioned stimpack, which helped accelerate the healing process. The prickling began to die down, and no sooner replaced by a more relaxing numb. The young woman bandaged him up to secure his wounds.

"Thank you, drunky," he joked, in light of her using whiskey as a form of antiseptic.

He couldn't believe it; he didn't have to work for Moriarty anymore. It was much to take in one sitting, but eventually things would sort themselves out. All the world's weight couldn't phase him at this point. There was one thing left, though…

"Gob, we can't stay here anymore. It's a miracle someone hasn't come yet because of the gunshots. We have to leave Megaton before dawn,"

"Yeah, but—"

"When they find out that Colin's dead, it won't take long for people to assume who did it. Look, don't you want to get away from all of this?"

"Yeah…"

"The reason why I came here was to get away from my old life…but it looks like I'm going back to it…" she sighed.

He had it in mind to ask her what she used to do, but ruled against it—for now.

"I'll go get as many supplies as I can to last us a week. I promise everything's going to be okay. I'll protect you."

She went downstairs and began looting as many bottle caps, food, drinks and medical supplies as her duffle bag could hold. Once she returned, she could see Gob sitting hunched over on her bed, silently ruminating with an oddly vacant stare toward the floor. His head lifted once he saw her come into the room and offered her a weak smile.

"Let's get some rest; we'll be out of here in a couple of hours." Holly set the bag next to the bedside and crawled into the same mattress next to him. He felt even tenser now as she was in close proximity of her. He lied back, stiffly.

"Hey Holly,"

"Yes, Gob?"

"_Thank you_."

"Of course…" she nestled the side of her cheek against the pillow. He followed suit. He could feel the warmth of her body next to his. Next, there was silence. Gob could not sleep. Not like this—not when she was so close. He began to feel her shift a bit and edge herself even closer toward his frame from the pillow, her cheek rested onto his chest. His arm twitched, but ultimately it hesitantly snaked around her shoulders to draw her closer. There wasn't any sign of repulse or relent from her end, so he began to relax. He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye. Those hazel eyes were lidded. The warm breaths tickled against his skin. He wanted to stay like this forever. She was the only human that treated him with genuine kindness and not some kind of abomination.

It was peaceful now, despite Moriarty's corpse lying about the next room.

They had a long day ahead of them. He didn't care where they were going. All that mattered to him was that they'd be together. Now to get an hour or two in…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now that the "Moriarty's" Arc is over, interaction/ progression can now ensue. Stay turned for the next chapter. **


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